According to Alexander’s [Alexander, R. D. (1987). The biology of moral systems. New York: Aldine de Gruyter] theory of morality, human social groups became large as a result of between-group competition over preferred habitats and resources, but although larger social groups are more successful in competition, they also experience more pressures to fission. Morality unites a society by limitin...

Recent studies of the evolution of religion have revealed the cognitive underpinnings of belief in supernatural agents, the role of ritual in promoting cooperation, and the contribution of morally punishing high gods to the growth and stabilization of human society. The universality of religion across human society points to a deep evolutionary past. However, specific traits of nascent religios...

An infinity of gods collectively select a random natural number by each removing a finite number of balls from an urn in a reverse supertask. It is discussed whether this is an absurdity that indicates the impossibility of reverse supertasks.

One central feature of the God of Israel, highlighted in the holy Scriptures of the Jews, was that he had h)nq. The word means zeal, jealousy, and envy. In other words, Yahweh is a jealous God, envious of and zealous for all that belongs to him. He will give his glory to no other, “nor my praise to graven images”. 2 This God had now chosen Israel to be his people. The people, then, were to show...

Understanding the expansion of human sociality and cooperation beyond kith and kin remains an important evolutionary puzzle. There is likely a complex web of processes including institutions, norms, and practices that contributes to this phenomenon. Considerable evidence suggests that one such process involves certain components of religious systems that may have fostered the expansion of human...

The book “The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind” of Julian Jaynes provides, not only a fascinating scenario about the evolution of modern consciousness from the consciousness of bicameral stone age man, but also a holistic view about schizophrenic consciousness. In fact, Jaynes regards schizophrenic as a bicameral man receiving commands of “God” as auditory and visu...

During the course of this paper I explore the Jaynesian notion of bicameral consciousness (1976, 1990) in relation to notions of relational ordering and the re‐constitution of persons within post‐individual technological practices of s(elf). The paper considers notions of bi‐cameralism as expressed through the interpretation of ancient artefacts and texts an...